The Only Blender You'll Ever Need in Your Kitchen

Welcome to Test Drive, in which we subject kitchen tools and equipment to the rigor of the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen—then judge which ones perform best.

If we have one best friend in the kitchen, we're thinking that slot goes to our blender. And our hearts belong to one, and one alone: the Vitamix 5200 ($450), which does none of that leak-out-the-bottom, can't-hold-enough-stuff nonsense that our old blender used to do. It's simple in its design and mega-durable, which means it's easy to clean and you don't have to worry about it jamming up in the middle of prep. Which means you can throw your breakfast in, press a button, rinse, drink, and run out the door. When we say that blenders really can make or break breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we mean it.

Senior food editor Alison Roman took the Vitamix 5200 for a test drive at the BA Test Kitchen to see how it fared against Nut Milk, Green Gazpacho, and a Watermelon, Lime, and Tequila Frozen Cocktail. "You'd be hard-pressed to walk into any restaurant kitchen and not find at least one Vitamix," she said. And for good reason. Things can be hard for many—if not most—blenders. But not for the Vitamix, which never sprays liquid out the top, doesn't require prep in multiple tiny batches, and even comes with a tamper in case things get stuck from time to time.

Photo: Vitamix

Vitamix

Don't have the money or the counter space for a Vitamix? No sweat. That's why we test drove the Cuisinart Smart Stick 2-Speed Hand Blender. It's great for storing in tiny spaces, and it gets the job done for most everyday items that need blending. With a price tag coming in at only $65, we're thinking we'll be sipping on slushy frozen cocktails for the first order of business as soon as we get home, whether we can snag a Vitamix 5200 or not.